Quad-Cities hosts own fighters at i wireless Center

Font Size:

By Eric Page | Thursday, October 2, 2008 3:05 PM CDT | () comments

Mixed Martial Arts veteran Brad Imes has been waiting a long time to show Quad-Citians what he can do in the ring.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, he’ll finally get his chance.

Imes, a 6-foot-7, 265-pounder with an 11-6 record, will take on Chris Guillen in the main event of Extreme Challenge 109 at the i wireless Center, EC promoter Monte Cox announced Wednesday.

“We’ve always wanted to see Brad fight locally,” Cox said. “But he was always tied up with UFC, and we couldn’t get him here. We got real lucky that his schedule was open, and it’s perfect to do an event with a headliner like Brad Imes.”

Also featured on what is expected to be a 12-fight card are former University of Iowa wrestling national champion Eric Juergens and Extreme Challenge vet Joe Pearson. Imes, Pearson and Juergens all train locally with Pat Miletich.

The matchup with Guillen (13-9) will be Imes’ fourth bout this year. He lost a split-decision to Anthony Ruiz in January, beat James Jack by unanimous decision in March and was TKO’d by Roy Nelson in an International Fight League match in May.

This next fight will be a chance to rebound and to put on a show for the fans in his adopted home.

“It’s very exciting for me to finally be able to fight in the Quad-Cities,” Imes said. “The people here have really taken me in. I feel at home here. It’s exciting to finally be able to give back to the people who have given so much to me.”

Juergens, a Maquoketa native, was a four-time high school state wrestling champion and a four-time All-American and two-time national champion at Iowa. He has mixed in training while also coaching the wrestling team at Augustana College and is off to a 3-0 start.

Juergens is represented by Cox, and Cox said he’s having a hard time finding opponents for Juergens because of his strong background on the mat.

“You’re not going to see many guys with his wrestling ability in mixed martial arts,” Miletich said. “This is a great opportunity for the fans to see that.”

Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.